ztweb Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 SEE MY POST BELOW My dad has his first 3 month follow up (November) after being given the blessing of remission. We haven't been given the schedule yet, but Mom didn't think that a bone scan was on the list. Should we be asking for this? He never had mets, had PCI, and responded fabulously to chemo and lung radiation. It seems to me that we want to find IT if IT is in there ANYWHERE, but maybe I am jumping the gun???? What are your thoughts? Peace to all. Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyW Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 You must advocate your Own health Care. Your Doctor has many patients to take care of, But you only have that one Dr. to take care of you. ASK Always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheri Posted September 20, 2006 Share Posted September 20, 2006 Jen, Since my Dad was diagnosed, I've done a tremendous amount of research on small cell. I'm not married and he's been my rock for forty years and I'm not ready to let him go. I've been to almost every oncologist meeting with him and his oncologist has told me it doesn't matter when a recurrence is found for sclc, treatment becomes palliative. After 15 months of remission, my Dad has had a recurrence and they now consider him a palliative patient, yet we hope he can achieve a second remission. His onc told me it doesn't matter how early his relapse is caught, small cell is considered terminal upon recurrence. I don't know if early recognition of a relapse increases survival rates or prolongs life. I hope it does but all the research I've done indicates it doesn't. If small cell returns the treatment is systemic and would treat all mets including bone. If your dad has pain in his bones, radiation can be used to relieve symptoms. Wishing the best for your Dad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitzu Posted September 20, 2006 Share Posted September 20, 2006 KatieB is right. Ask for the bone scan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welthy Posted September 20, 2006 Share Posted September 20, 2006 Absolutely a bone scan is in order. I thought they were an automatic with SCLC! My girlfriend had a few bone scans and she, unfortunately, only made it seven months. I'm not a doc and am only letting you know what my friend's experience was. Best of luck!! Regards, Welthy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastCoastLadi Posted September 20, 2006 Share Posted September 20, 2006 Jen, My husbands' onc. didn't run a bone scan, when he went to his new onc. I asked and he said yes, fortunately it was good. The one thing I will tell you, and everyone else, is that you are only as good as the day you take any test. Meaning that maybe on the day of whatever test you're ok, but who is to say the next day something occurs. But ask for the test. In fact, insist upon it. I wish you all the best.... Grace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchurchi Posted September 21, 2006 Share Posted September 21, 2006 Ask for the scan, even though Alan has no symptoms, his dr. orders a bone scan every 6 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauner95 Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 I am sure that every person is different, but my husband is NED and he has a bone scan every six months. He had his first bone scan at six months after NED and then he has another in November, his year anniversary. It can't hurt to ask. I hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisag Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Please ask for a bone scan. My dad was in remission for 3.5 weeks when he got a nasty headache. Turns out he had 4 nearly-undetectable lesions on his brain. Treatment of that led to a whole body scan...turns out he has a small lesion on his hip bone as well. So they're treating that too. He was having a little bit of hip pain too. Dad must be hyper-sensitive as the lesions are all so minuscule...but they were detectible via scan. Please ask your dads doctors to order one. Better to be safe than sorry. At least then you'll all sleep a little better. His team of doctors believes that cancer (even SCLC) can be a manageable, chronic disease. There is so much out there to treat it these days, that they are just going to keep trying. His radiation oncologist was telling my family that it is the National Institute of Health’s goal to treat cancer as a manageable, chronic disease by 2015 (or something like that) but many proactive doctors see it that way already. Just keep fighting, is all they can say. Be aggressive. If you need or want something, or if things seem a bit off, ask for the help / scans / etc.. Knowing is better than wondering, no matter what the outcome. As one of them put it...Once you've been down this road, ignorance is no longer bliss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ztweb Posted September 27, 2006 Author Share Posted September 27, 2006 Bump, bump, bump! We got everything for dad's first-after-remission appointment at the end of November. It does not include a bone scan, but a CT. I called the onc to ask her about it, and she made it seem extremely unnecessary. She has always been VERY PROACTIVE, so this came as a shock to me because of the words of advice you all gave to me. She told me that it is far more important to assess any patterns of "feeling" my dad might have, and then seek scans or treatments at that point. She told me that if/once cancer returns, then it is considered uncurable. Is this why they don't scan for it, because you don't have a chance then? I talked to mom and dad about this, and will send an email message to the rest of my family today telling them what doc and I talked about, because she said that if, as a family, we decide we want a scan, she would order it, but that we needed to be aware of the "can of worms" we might be opening...what the heck does this mean? Exhausted, Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treebywater Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Jen. I don't know much about SCLC, but that sounds like a huge load of crap to me. From what I've seen from folks here--you CAN fight even if it's a recurrence... and you WANT TO KNOW as early as possible if you need to. If this is their attitude about a recurrence... well. Maybe you need to sit down and have a heart-to-heart with the doc. and tell her that YOU GUYS don't give up that easy and it's too bad that SHE DOES but you guys are going to fight. That is, of course, after making sure that is your Dad's feeling as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.S. I Love You Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Hi, Jen- I don't think my wife, Bev, has had a bone scan during her entire time. She's SCLC limited and NED, 18 months out of treatment. We have total confidence in her oncologist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebsSky Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Oh my gosh Jen: This is the kinda crap I swallowed with my Mom's onc. and her internist (because they were supposed to be the "best" in Canada for lung cancer), and look where I am now. Don't swallow it and do what your gut is obviously telling you to do! I sure wish I had. As for your Dad's onc......GRRRRRR!!!! Prayers for you and your family, Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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